Mini Mandala

Talk about Fun! One of the professor’s from a local college here in Mountain Province was in need of help for the art component of his curriculum. He invited me to come and do a painting workshop.

It just so happened that I had three very adventurous and artistic couch surfers with me this past weekend. They were game for some more artistic adventure, so we hit the road early Saturday morning, and through a combination of public van and hitch-hiking on the back of a cement truck, we made it to Tadian– another beautiful city perched in the green mountains.

We worked with a small group of 10 engineering students. Several students from my last workshop at the college joined (thanks Joy and Rigo!). I was conscious that these students were probably about to have their first art making experience, so to start things off talked a little bit about “What is Art?” I was very interested to hear all the different and insights and perspectives that Dominika and Piotr (from Poland) and Avid (from California) had to share. I hope the ideas that came up stick with the students– I know that conversations like these in my college philosophy class remain completely unforgotten.

And then, we made a mandala! We took stock of all the paint that we had available, and did a little brainstorming on the symbols found in the local Igorot culture. I introduced the concept of a mandala and explained how it was a wonderful way to both work together and reflect the consciousness of it’s creators. We spent the afternoon painting while David played songs on the guitar behind us.

Here are some shots of the almost finished mandala on the door of the student union building and our new friends. Twas a good days work!

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Russell is a regenerative designer and inventor based in Bali, Indonesia. He is one of the leaders of the Ecobrick movement in Indonesia and the world. Inspired by the principles of the mandala and his time amongst the Igorot people he works to implementing deep, trans-formative innovations. You can read more in his Regenerative Design Manifesto or follow him on Facebook and Steemit: